At this time, the crown prince Duanmuzhen had already keenly noticed that the hands of those local forces had reached the officials of the imperial court. On a list of recommended talents from all over the country submitted to the imperial court, he looked at his wife, who is now the crown princess Feng Xuege, and said: "It seems that some people in the ministry should deal with it!" ”

Feng Xuege looked at her husband beside her, whose tone was full of murder, and she asked, "I don't know how you deal with them?" ”

Duanmuzhen sneered and said, "Hmph, these people's bodies are naturally unclean, so as long as you want to find their crimes, you can find them." However, since they want to restore these forces, they should be eliminated with the disappearance of these forces. ”

Since Duanmuzhen has always been forbidden by order, naturally Duanmuzhen lightly annotated those few strokes, which seemed to be an understatement, but it was the beginning of the entire ministry that shook it.

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the thirty-fourth year of Duanning, the Lantern Festival had just passed, and the officials began to seriously rectify the ground under the order of the crown prince himself. On the same day, five members of the Ministry of Officials were questioned, executed, and their families were exiled.

The next day, three of the officials were also found out and sentenced to the same crime. At the same time, all the local forces that colluded with them were also found out, sentenced to death one by one, and their families were exiled.

Of course, this rectification of the Ministry of Officials is only the beginning. Soon, when Emperor Duanmugang and the empress inspected Shenghai Province, the crown prince began to rectify harshly.

Soon, the seventeen officials of the Criminal Department were thoroughly investigated, and Cheng Tingjing, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was ashamed, he never thought that the people under his command would be so bold, and he even asked for a demotion. However, Prince Duanmuzhen naturally knew that Cheng Tingjing, an old minister, really didn't think that this kind of thing would happen. In particular, Kuang Liang, the right attendant of the Criminal Department, is still his own person, this Kuang Liang has always enforced the law like a mountain and has a clean breeze on his sleeves, and he is such a smart person who has not found anything, not to mention this old criminal department secretary! There are so many officials in the Criminal Department, but fortunately, the ones who were caught were only some petty officials below the sixth or seventh grade, and the officials above the fifth grade, including the five grades, were all very honest, just like Li Zhizhong in Langzhong of Jiangnan Province of the Criminal Department, although the imperial court was very high, but he still lived a frugal life, and even one of his own nephews broke the law, and he ignored the pleas of his uncle and put him in prison. He handled affairs very fairly, and the officials in many parts of Jiangnan Province hated him very much, and even constantly hired killers to assassinate him. As a result, no one succeeded, because his sons Li Cunren and Li Cunyi were both leaders of the forbidden army, and they were highly valued by the emperor, and the cultivation of these two people was above the Nine Tribulations Realm.

For this Li Zhizhong, the crown prince Duanmuzhen admired it very much, so he went to this Li Zhizhong's mansion in person with a private visit.

And Li Zhizhong is celebrating his sixtieth birthday at this time, because he doesn't like any excitement, that is, the family gathers together. Today, his five grandchildren and two granddaughters are adults. He used to be poor, but because his wife, who came from a wealthy family, appreciated his talent, she married him desperately, and at the same time funded him to take the imperial examination. He was grateful to his wife and had a deep affection for her for the rest of his life. Because he is an official in the local government or an official in the court, he is arrogant, sticks to the law, asks for the people's lives, and is not afraid of the powerful. Therefore, his sons, grandsons, and granddaughters were all valued by the emperor and the crown prince because of their good family education.

At this time, Li Zhizhong was looking at his five grandsons and two granddaughters with satisfaction, the five grandsons Li Guoliang, Li Guoqiang, Li Guoxiong, Li Guozhang and Li Guodong, all of them have been selected as Jinshi, and they are all officials in other places, and his two granddaughters Li Xueqi and Li Xueyao are even more female historians in the palace, of course, they are not the kind of female officials who serve the emperor, but the real female officials in the Taishi Bureau, that is, in the Taishi Bureau, which is the Taishi Bureau where the great eunuch Gao He was appointed as the Taishi Ling, as for how they were selected, It is the internal examination system specially approved by the emperor for the empress mother, in fact, the jinshi selected by the internal examination is no different from the jinshi selected by the palace examination, and will also be awarded official positions.

Therefore, Li Zhizhong felt that he was very lucky to be able to live to see the strength of the empire, and to be able to see that his children and grandchildren had achieved greater achievements than him.

It's just that when Li Zhizhong and his family were still happily eating a family banquet together, they heard the news from the doorman that someone had actually visited them, so he naturally got up immediately and prepared to greet them. As a result, he saw that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and he immediately wanted to salute. However, at this time, how could the prince Duanmuzhen be embarrassed to let the old man bow down to him at the birthday banquet of the old man! Therefore, he directly hugged Li Zhizhong and said to him: "Elder Li, today is your birthday, this palace has brought you some birthday gifts, don't dislike it!" ”

Li Zhizhong looked at the benevolent and filial prince in front of him, and was very moved that the prince could come to him in person to pay homage to him, how could he dislike the meager gift! Therefore, he said directly: "Your Highness is working day and night, how can Weichen's small birthday gift bother you?" ”

However, the crown prince Duanmuzhen said to him: "Elder Li, can't you say that!" You are old and talented, and the children and grandchildren you have cultivated are also the pillars of the imperial court, and your old birthday banquet should be held in a big way, but you are still living so frugally. The court gave you a promotion, you have been pushing back and holding back when you are old, but this time the palace wants to let you go out of the mountain when you are old! ”

Li Zhizhong could have been promoted to a knighthood, but what! This stubborn old man modestly believes that his ability is not as good as those top bosses, and he always pushes back and does not want to be promoted. It's just that this time, he knows that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has come to pay homage to his birthday, and it will be difficult for him not to be promoted! After all, when he heard about the affairs of the officials, it made him, an old man, angry. He even severely and thoroughly investigated the officials under his command, even the Jiangnan Province under his supervision, and the result still pleased him, no one colluded with those local forces in Jiangnan Province, and had bad deeds.

However, this time, he knew that he couldn't shirk it! As a loyal minister, Li Zhizhong, who was even falsely imprisoned for contradicting his boss for the sake of legal justice, naturally knows how important the department of officials is. He can shirk his official position, but he can't shirk the invitation of His Royal Highness the benevolent Prince. Therefore, he said directly: "Okay, since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so worried about Sheji, then the old man is better than obeying his fate!" ”

After the birthday banquet, Li Zhizhong received an order from the Ministry of Officials, granting him the rank of Langzhong and the Ministry of Officials to take charge of his own duties, and at the same time directly promoted his title to Marquis Wenzhong, but he didn't care about what title was promoted. As soon as he received the order, he went about his duty. As a result, he, an old man who knew well the ills of officials, naturally quickly found out a large number of officials who were corrupt and bent the law. At the same time, a large number of local forces that wanted to restore their power were uprooted.

This old man's methods did not surprise Prince Duanmuzhen, but it made Crown Princess Feng Xuege a little shocked.

Duanmuzhen didn't care, he said lightly: "Do you think that this old man, Daddy doesn't want to be promoted?" No, Daddy had promoted him many times, but the old man was still stubborn. That's why Daddy will promote all his children and grandchildren, but his children and grandchildren are also talented and virtuous, worthy of his children and grandchildren. However, this old man, there is only one thing that moves him, that is, when there are corrupt officials and corrupt officials and people who harm the people in the empire, even if I don't invite him out, he will personally ask for his life. He was a stubborn man, but I respected him since I was a child, and although he refused to be my teacher, I once read his articles myself. ”

Feng Xuege also felt that this old man was really cute, and she said lightly: "It seems that my father has left you a lot of good officials!" But you're busy! They are very easy to deal with, but they are not easy to deal with. ”

Duanmuzhen said lightly: "Don't worry, I won't deal with them, and our descendants won't deal with them either." Since they did not change their minds in such a difficult environment, they will not change in the future. Daddy said that these officials were not selected for the sake of good looks, but to cover up the decoration of the emperor's advice. It is because these good officials are able to rectify discipline and are the pillars of the country. If I, the future monarch, could implement benevolent government, love the people like sons, and enrich the people and strengthen the country, they would be extremely loyal, perform their duties, and live out their old age in peace. But if I, the future monarch, are deaf, then they will surely die by my sword, because they are men who dare to do things and speak for the people. When the country is in danger, they will surely work hard to serve the country. When the country is at peace, they will also worry about the people and be loyal to their hearts. Therefore, my father once told me that I should know how to use them and respect them. This time, I went to his birthday party, and even if I didn't say the words to ask him, he would have offered it. However, I had to take the initiative because it was a sign of respect for his old man. The reason why he worked so hard was not only for me and my father, but for the people of the empire. ”

If you want to know what happens next, let's see the next breakdown.